Homicidal

Homicidal is the story of the almost 25-year serial-murder crime spree of Lonnie Franklin Jr., who is alleged to have killed at least 10 women in Los Angeles, if not more. Nicknamed by the media the Grim Sleeper, because there appeared to be a 13-year lull in the killings, Franklin met most of the women through random encounters that ended in murder. Significant blunders by the Los Angeles Police Department helped Franklin avoid arrest for years.

This is NOT a fictional murder mystery. If you're not interested in brief descriptions of true crime serial killers from Los Angeles from decades ago, that jump from one to another to another to another, and that are very badly narrated, then skip this one. I deleted this one as it's not worth the time it took to listen to it.

The Search

To most people, Fiona Bristow seems to have an idyllic life — a quaint house on an island off Seattle’s coast, a thriving dog-training school, and a challenging volunteer job performing canine search and rescue. Not to mention her three intensely loyal Labs. But Fiona got to this point by surviving a nightmare.

I will not knowingly buy another audiobook narrated by Tanya Eby. She reads like she's reciting for second graders. I was going to stop after the first chapter, but I thought maybe she would get better. She didn't.

I don't know if the narrator totally ruined the story for me or not, but in the end, I didn't care much for the writing either.

The End of the Affair

Graham Greene’s evocative analysis of the love of self, the love of another, and the love of God is an English classic that has been translated for the stage, the screen, and even the opera house. Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, A Single Man) turns in an authentic and stirring performance for this distinguished audio release.

Not only do I rarely give 5-star reviews for performance AND story, but I also rarely listen to an audiobook all in one day. So this was the audiobook I couldn't put down! Usually I just listen while exercising or driving and a book gets listened to over multiple days. Of course, I knew I would love Colin Firth's narration (great voice and accent), but the story and the writing talents of Greene were also compelling to listen to... or possibly Colin made it just that much more compelling. Not sure. Either way, I loved this audiobook. Now I'm back looking for more from both Colin and Greene.

The Casual Vacancy

When Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly in his early 40s, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils.... Pagford is not what it at first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the town's council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.

I gave this audiobook four stars for the author's telling of the story. It was also well written, which I see as two slightly different things. I don't know that we were meant to actually like the story. You feel deflated and let down at the end, but then again, such is life. Probably my highest praise is that I think I'll remember this story for a long time. I have read other more exciting so-called "thrillers" that were perhaps more entertaining, but two years later I don't really remember that much about the details of the story. This one will stick with me like alternate memories of my youth.

Eureka: A Free Story from 'The Last Girlfriend on Earth'

The stories in Simon Rich's new book, The Last Girlfriend on Earth, are bizarre, funny, and yet...relatable. Rich explores love's many complications - losing it, finding it, breaking it, and making it - and turns the ordinary into the absurd. With razor-sharp humor, and just in time for Valentine's Day, the story “Eureka” takes listeners for an exhilarating, hilarious ride on the rollercoaster of love.

The Cold Dish: A Walt Longmire Mystery

Award-winning author Craig Johnson's critically acclaimed debut Western mystery takes listeners to the breathtaking mountains of Wyoming for a tale of cold-blooded vengeance. Four high-school boys were given suspended sentences for raping a Cheyenne girl. Now, two of the boys have been killed, and only Sheriff Walt Longmire can keep the other two safe.

The narrator did a great job of adding to the likeability of wonderfully written characters, and his voice was a perfect complement to the pace of the story. In a successful series like this, you might expect a compelling main character, and the author certainly delivered that. The nice surprise for me was how well defined the supporting characters were. There are at least four supporting characters that I feel I know almost as well as the sherriff. Loved the writing style. The dialogue was brilliant and quotable in places. One of those rare books that can make you laugh and cry at the same time. Refreshing to have a 50-plus hero for a change. The Indian ghosts created brilliant imagery. Loved the book. Looking forward to the next one in the series to follow my new friends.

Thérèse Raquin

Once upon a time, a teenaged Kate Winslet (The Reader, Titanic, Revolutionary Road) received a gift that would leave a lasting impression: a copy of Emile Zola’s classic Thérèse Raquin. Six Academy Award nominations and one Best Actress award later, she steps behind the microphone to perform this haunting classic of passion and disaster.

"Be careful what you wish for" would make a better title for this book.

I was wondering why Kate Winslet chose this book, published in 1865, to narrate. I now understand that the movie version is due out in 2013. Kate Winslet was attached for a long time to star in the lead role. Then Eva Green replaced her with Gerard Butler as Laurent. In the fall of 2011, Elisabeth Olsen was announced as a replacement in the lead role with Glenn Close as Madame Raquin and Tom Felton. This book has been adapted on film many times and in several languages, going as far back as a silent film adaptation in 1915. That must have been interesting. I'm really looking forward to Glenn Close's eyes burning into Thérèse after Madame Raquin becomes mute and learns the truth.

The French author, Emile Zola, intended to study temperaments and not characters. His main characters were assigned various humors according to Galen's Four Temperaments: Thérèse is melancholic, Laurent is sanguine, and Camille is phlegmatic. The characters are often given animalistic tendencies, every one of them almost entirely consumed by self-interest. Thérèse and Laurent are often rightly described as brutes.

I don't generally finish a book in which I don't actually like ANY of the characters. After all, why should I spend time with them if I don't like them? But Kate Winslet's excellent narration kept holding my attention until I began to understand and better appreciate the story. I'm glad I listened to it, and I can now see its significance and influence on other later works of literature. Stick with it to the end and you'll appreciate the overall story and the style of writing as well. It must have been amazing when they performed this on stage in an opera, which lends itself so well to the drama. An interesting story on many levels.

Die Trying

In a Chicago suburb, a dentist is met in his office parking lot by three men and ordered into the trunk of his Lexus. On a downtown sidewalk, Jack Reacher and an unknown woman are abducted in broad daylight by two men - practiced and confident - who stop them at gunpoint and hustle them into the same sedan.

Killing Floor

All is not well in Margrave, Georgia. The sleepy, forgotten town hasn't seen a crime in decades, but within the span of three days it witnesses events that leave everyone stunned. An unidentified man is found beaten and shot to death on a lonely country road.

There are plenty of reviews. So I'll only add that Dick Hill is an amazing narrator. He does the Harvard accent as well as the Southern accent. In addtion, he is being technically added by a sound person. When a voice is meant to be over the telephone, the technician, or whoever, has given it that tinny quality. When a voice is meant to be shouted from a distance, it has that slight Doppler quality as well. Best narration I've ever heard from a single narrator.

The story itself was a little corny and predictable, but I liked the plain style and fast moving pace of it. The style kind of reminds me of Elmore Leonard a little, although I like Leonard's dialogue better. Still, I'd characterize both as fast, fun, entertaining reading. Something to unwind with after a hard day at work when you don't really want to think anymore.

Deliverance

The setting is the Georgia wilderness, where the state's most remote white-water river awaits. In the thundering froth of that river, in its echoing stone canyons, four men on a canoe trip discover a freedom and exhilaration beyond compare. And then, in a moment of horror, the adventure turns into a struggle for survival as one man becomes a human hunter who is offered his own harrowing deliverance.

I must have seen the movie two or three decades ago. It seemed a testosterone driven story. So I wasn't sure. A good novel transends genre, though. I enjoyed the story very much. I was pleased that the story continues after they get off the river finally and gives you an idea of how this horrific experience has affected their lives thereafter. Very well written. Interesting and compelling enough that I stayed with it and finished in one day. I actually liked the slower portions of the book as it gave you insight into the central character. I thought the pacing of the story varied nicely.

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